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Forde, Review: Big stars and local heroes – the mix that made Forde a World Championships to remember 

Olympic champions Rizki Juniansyah and Karlos Nasar helped to make the 2025 World Championships in Forde, Norway, an event to remember. So did the four male silver medallists in Paris who won in Forde - Weeraphon Wichuma, Yeison Lopez, Akbar Djuraev and Varazdat Lalayan. Those six champions now hold eight world records between them. In total there were 39 world records in Forde. Karlos Nasar (BUL) Another highlight was seeing Jon Mau from Germany back on the platform after cancer. He underwent six months of chemotherapy during his absence.  The female stars were Solfrid Koanda, Olivia Reeves and PRK’s team of record-breaking champions. Plus another woman, an unknown resident of Forde who, by her actions, was representing not a national team but a town with a population of little more than 10,000. Solfrid Koanda (NOR) Halfway through the Championships two members of a visiting team met while one, a coach, was walking away from the Fordehuset venue and the other was walking towards it.  They stopped to chat on the pavement, in a language not native to Norway, when the woman walked past. After a few seconds she turned back and approached the two, smiling. “Welcome to Forde,” she said in English, before walking off again. That sort of welcome was experienced by more than 1,000 people who descended with their teams on the smallest town ever to host the competition. The next host city, Ningbo in China, is a thousand times bigger than Forde at 10 million. Rizki Juniansyah (INA) The “welcome to Forde” woman showed that what happened off the platform was as important as what happened on it in making 2025 a special Championships. Hundreds of people from Forde and the wider Sunnfjord area volunteered to help extend that welcome personally – as drivers, stewards and in a host of other roles. They were as helpful and, it seemed, as numerous as the volunteers at an Olympic Games. “We may be the smallest hosts but we have the biggest heart,” said Stian Grimseth, the man who dreamed up and oversaw the project. Stian Grimseth, the man behind this successful competition Several sessions drew a full house of 1,700 - many of them families with young children, and almost all of them first-timers in watching weightlifting. They loved watching Solfrid Koanda win for Norway in front of the King, Harald V. They loved seeing Ine Anderson in her farewell appearance. And they cheered Ragnar Holme, a local plumber, to fifth place in the super-heavyweights. Ri Song Gum (PRK) PRK topped the medals table yet again. Ri Suk, Ri Song Gum and Song Kuk Hyang were their best performers. Another memorable example of local enthusiasm was seeing a group of local teenage girls persuade Ri Suk to join them for social media photos. Some of the PRK men joined in, too. The 69kg winner Song would have been on the podium in the super-heavyweights with her 270kg total. So would Reeves, who made 278kg after moving up to 77kg. They both had a sweep of world records. Song and Reeves competing against each other is a classic waiting to happen. Olivia Reeves (USA) Plenty of younger athletes also put on a show, some of them winning medals and breaking world records, others shining outside the top three. Among them were Albert Delos Santos from the Philippines, Caden Cahoy and Kolbi Ferguson from the United States, Abdelrahman Younes from Egypt, Yedige Yemberdi from Kazakhstan, Alireza Moeini from Iran, and Jokser Albornoz from Colombia. In the women’s sessions Long Tanzhen from China, Janette Ylisoini from Finland, Wakana Nagashina from Japan, and the hugely impressive teenager Ingrid Vanesa Seguro from Bahrain all stood out. The amazing crowd in Forde There were signs, too, of national teams moving in the right direction. Thailand, which for so long relied on its women, has built very strong men’s team. Germany is clearly improving, and may soon have a newcomer if, as expected, Yekta Jamali gains German citizenship. Others to look out for are India, Brazil and New Zealand. There are good signs in all parts of the world. By Brian Oliver Photos by Giorgio

Forde, Day 10: Photo Gallery

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Forde, Day 10: Lalayan shows his class on red-light day as Forde extravaganza comes to a close

Varazdat Lalayan from Armenia strengthened his position as the world’s top super-heavyweight when he won his second world title on the final day of the IWF World Championships in Forde, Norway. Park Hyejeong won the women’s super-heavyweights on a good day for Korea. Her team-mates Song Yeonghwan and Lee Yangjae finished third and fourth in the men’s event when Ali Davoudi from Iran bombed out in clean and jerk. Varazdat Lalayan (ARM) The Fordehuset was full to its 1,700 capacity once more as a hugely successful Championships came to a close. The audience saw Lalayan take the lead with his first attempt and finish well clear of Gor Minasyan from Bahrain and Song. In his past seven competitions Lalayan, 26, has been beaten only once, finishing 3kg behind Lasha Talakhadze at the Paris Olympic Games. Lasha was not lifting in the other six – he was in the audience in Forde - and Lalayan’s winning margin has ranged from 8kg to 35kg. Today it was 14kg when Lalayan made 211-250-461. His four good lifts was a far better effort than anybody else in a session when there were 26 red lights on the scoreboard compared with 16 whites. A total of 12 attempts were declined. Gor Minasyan (BRN) Two athletes were not fit to lift, the Georgian teenager Bakari Turmanidze and Ayat Sharifi from Iran. Two bombed out in clean and jerk – Davoudi after failing at 243, 244 and 246kg, and Aaron Williams from the United States on 220, 221 and 225kg. Williams lost his final attempt to a jury review. If he had made it he might have won the bronze on total, having snatched 185kg. Minasyan made 205-242-457 and Song 175-235-410. Two B Group athletes moved up to fifth and sixth overall because of all those red lights, Vladyslav Prylypko from Ukraine and local hero Ragnar Holme, who is a plumber in Forde as well as a weightlifter. The women’s medal contenders also had a bad day. None of the top five made more than one clean and jerk, and when Park declined her final attempt it meant that all three medallists finished with only three good lifts. Park Hyejeong (KOR) Park won on 125-158-283, her lowest total for three years. Marifelix Sarria from Cuba and Mary Theisen Lappen from the United States were second and third, both well below the numbers they made in finishing first and second at the Pan American Championships in July. Sarria made 118-157-275 and Theisen Lappen 115-154-269. When Theisen Lappen lost her 159kg final attempt to a jury review, Emily Campbell had a chance to win a medal for Great Britain, but she failed on 159kg and was fourth across the board. Zhu Linhan, an 18-year-old debutant from China, won snatch bronze and finished fifth on 116-140-256. Marifelix Sarria (CUB) A former skiing champion finished 11th, one place below her target in Forde. The German Kiara Klug, 22, was a national downhill champion as a teenager, but her Olympic dreams have switched from winter to summer. She gave up skiing five years ago because of a “mental and emotional crisis combined with an eating disorder and a coach with whom the chemistry wasn't right”. Klug took to the gym and weightlifting has helped her to a much better place. “Training sucks sometimes but I love competing, I love getting ready for a competition and I love the sport. I feel I belong,” she said. Klug, 22, won medals at the European Championships this year and her long-term aim is qualifying for the Olympics. Are there any transferable skills from downhill skiing to the weightlifting platform? “I learned in skiing about being in the zone. When you go to the start gate, the focus is all on you. It’s the same now when I go on stage. You shut everything else out. This is your time – and I love that.” Kiara Klug (GER) In her skiing career Klug weighed about 20kg less than today’s 93kg, and she will get heavier yet. “I want to go up and see how I feel, to try and get more power,” she said. “I’m planning to bulk up over the winter. I’m not so heavy that I couldn’t lose the weight, so I will try heavier, and if it looks like I’ll have a better chance of qualifying at 86 or whatever the Olympic weight class is, I’ll be able to try that.” Klug made 111-130-241, one kilo below her best, and knows she has plenty of work to do in clean and jerk. By Brian Oliver Photos by Giorgio

Forde, Day 9: Photo Gallery

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Forde, Day 9: World records for dominant Djuraev back at his true weight – and a day to remember Ragnar the plumber

Akbar Djuraev returned to his best weight and posted two world records to dominate a  top-class field at 110kg on the penultimate day of the IWF World Championships in Forde, Norway. Djuraev finished 13kg clear and it could have been more but for a bizarre final attempt. Alireza Nasiri from Iran took second place despite failing with his first two attempts, finishing off with junior world records in clean and jerk, and total. That made it three world records in two days for Iran. There was another large crowd at Fordehuset to watch Djuraev’s masterclass – but not as many as the full house of 1,700 who watched the earlier super-heavyweight B Group. The big attraction was local plumber Ragnar Holme, who hit his highest total after putting training ahead of plumbing in his preparations. Djuraev was never seriously challenged despite the presence of his team-mate Ruslan Nurudinov, an Olympic champion in 2016, and the Armenians Simon Martirosyan and Garik Karapetyan, both multiple champions. Akbar Djuraev (UZB) He broke the snatch world record with his third attempt, bettered the total on his fifth and needed 6kg more on his final attempt to complete the sweep. Instead he went up 13kg to 245kg, got the bar above his knees, dropped it and smiled to the crowd. He was just messing around. That was quite a contrast to what happened in Paris last year, when Djuraev was in tears and could not speak for half an hour after he failed with two attempts to win Olympic gold at 102kg. “That’s why I have silver and not gold,” he said. “Maybe the weight categories will change again (for Los Angeles 2028) and I will get the result.” They have done, and he probably will. “I am back at my right weight. I can eat properly, train properly. I feel good, very happy,” he said after posting 196-232-428. Alireza Nasiri (IRI) Alireza, 20, made 184-231-415, a superb performance when he might have bombed out. Nurudinov made four from six for 186-228-414 in third. The expected strong challenge from Armenia never got off the ground. Martirosyan, an Olympic silver medallist who has not won since 2019, bombed out in snatch and Karapetyan would have joined him but for making his third attempt. He was fourth with a snatch bronze and two good lifts on 187-220-407. Luis Manuel Lauret, lifting for Romania, took silver in snatch on 188kg but then bombed out in clean and jerk. Marcos Ruiz from Spain made an impressive personal best of 185-221-406 in fifth place, at the age of 30. His hopes for the Paris Olympic Games were wrecked by injury, and his reaction to his successful last lift showed what it meant to be back at his best. Kolbi Ferguson, one of the host nation’s young hopefuls for the Los Angeles Olympics, recovered after missing his first two snatches to set an American clean and jerk record on 174-222-396. He topped the B Group and finished seventh, one place better than last year. Dagnar Holme (NOR) In the sold-out +110 B Group, Holme was cheered to a career-best 178-210-388. Among those watching was Sindre Rorstadbotnen, a Forde landscape gardener who was the local star when the European Championships came to town in 2016. The biggest crowd of the week back then was a full house for a C Group featuring Sindre. Norway’s home hero on Thursday, Olympic and world champion Solfrid Koanda, is an electrician. Norwegian weightlifters are clearly multi-talented, as well as big box office. Kamil Kucera from Czechia, the oldest athlete at the Championships, said the crowd’s support was “amazing” as he finished 5kg behind Holme and 9kg behind the Group winner Vladyslav Prylypko from Ukraine. Kamil Kucera (CZE) The Paris Olympian from Czechia was 40 in March. “I was in pain on that last attempt,” he said while pressing an ice pack to his hip. “It’s a chronic problem but I hope to recover over the coming months and be ready to start the qualification programme for Los Angeles. “If I can stay clear of injuries I will keep going. I want to try for the Olympics again.” When he does finally retire, Kucera knows what he wants to do – run a darts club. He is a very keen and accomplished darts player and is already in the process of opening a club in Prague. Kucera had already lifted three times at the World Juniors before the youngest super-heavyweight in Forde, 17-year-old Bakari Turmanidze from Georgia, was born. He says he still has “plenty of energy and motivation” because he had a long break from the sport for personal and financial reasons. At international level, he was absent for 10 years but he has been an ever-present since 2015. The Mexican Karim Saadi had to drink a lot of water to make it on to the platform. He was a couple of kilos underweight and by the time he had bulked up he was one gram over the 110kg lower limit. By Brian Oliver Photos by Giorgio

Forde, Day 8: Photo Gallery

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